The NLBMDA has asked Rep. Issa, the new chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, to also look into several OSHA proposals for consideration by the committee.

According to the NLBMDA, Issa recently sent a letter to 150 companies, trade associations, think tanks and scholars in mid-December asking them to come up with a list of the most onerous existing and proposed federal rules and regulations that are hurting job creation and economic growth. The NLBMDA wrote back to Issa regarding the EPA Lead Rule, which continues to create turmoil in the installed sales business and with many dealers' customers.

"We thank chairman Issa for reaching out to the business community and providing a platform for us to finally air our concerns and frustration with the burdensome EPA Lead Rule," said NLBMDA chairman Joe Collings, CEO of Ferguson Lumber in Rockville, Ind. "With the home remodeling market serving as a lifeline for many in the industry, the EPA Lead Rule continues to wreak havoc in the marketplace, while new EPA proposals to impose clearance testing requirements under the rule and expand it to commercial construction will only exacerbate the problems."

The NLBMDA, in a separate letter, also asked Issa's committee to review three OSHA proposals that they say have the potential for negatively impacting dealers without improving workplace safety. The new OSHA proposals include: initial efforts to develop a combustible dust standard for general industry; a proposal that would mandate a standard for employers' safety and health programs, referred to as an Injury and Illness Prevention Program; and an effort to revise its noise reduction requirements.